The chase for the world record spotted bass has been on for a while now, and this might be a banner year for the hunters. Sunday, Nov. 29, at an undisclosed lake in California, Paul Bailey of Kelseyville, Calif., landed a fish that unofficially topped the current record fish, Lou Ferrante’s 10.95-pound spotted bass, which was caught less than a year ago. Bailey’s behemoth was weighed on three different Rapala digital scales. Each registered a different weight: 11 pounds, 7 ounces, 11-5 and 11-4.
While Bailey’s fish was almost certainly larger than the existing record bass, it might not end up as the official record. Ferrante kept his fish and weighed it on a certified scale. While Bailey has plenty of witnesses and photos, he was unable to find a California Department of Fish and Wildlife agent willing and able to certify the fish on a holiday Sunday and was unwilling to risk keeping it overnight or killing the fish.
“I was torn between killing the fish [or letting it go],” says Bailey. “If it was a largemouth bass and it was a record-class fish, that’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal. These spotted bass are just getting started, and I know the record is going to be broken again. It just wasn’t worth it to me to kill the fish and go through it all.”
Bailey might still end up with an official record. If one or more of the scales used to weigh the fish can be certified, the fish might be able to be named the California record. Continue read at FLW Fishing – http://www.flwfishing.com/tips/2015-11-30-bailey-lands-possible-record-spot